1 Chapter 1- Wandering

     Alexander sat up against a tree staring at his hand watching as his blood leaked from a self-inflicted cut he had given himself with the sharp end of a rock. Analyzing his cut, he watched as suddenly it began repairing itself at a fast rate. Fast enough that only a few seconds later it had been entirely erased. The only proof of its existence remaining was the blood that had remained pooled in his hand. So it was true.

     Shortly after his arrival he had stood up and kept his composure, calmly thinking about what had happened to him. Ignoring the fact he had somehow ended up stranded in the middle of a forest completely alone with no resources. During that thought process he had gone through everything he knew. What he saw in his dream, the odds that the crack he had seen were possibly the doing of that mysterious being and even the likely chance that what he had experienced was magical or supernatural in nature. Not much came from that though, until suddenly he got hit with information he had never known before. Information regarding those skills he had heard of before. Particularly what they did and how potent they were.

     What he learned was he now could access them and somehow he instinctively knew how to use them. Like the data about them had been planted in his brain. He knew their effects, limits and even the intricacies in them like how and when they would activate and how he could manually do the same. It was a strange experience of course yet a welcome one as it at least gave him some information regarding some resources he now had to survive. Three resources in particular.

     Those being his skills Extra Skill [Adaptation],  and the Unique Skills[Long Lived] and [Survivor]. What were their effects? Well, starting with his first skill. The Extra Skill [Adaptation] would give his body the ability to slowly adapt to the problems he was facing in his everyday life. These adaptations could range from developing a stronger body to even increasing the effectiveness of organs although that was about where it would end. More extreme adaptations like new organs and limbs would be too much for the skill for example. On top of that the skill could also react to his own desires, giving him the ability to in a way lead his adaptations down a certain path although he didn't have full control. It was a very confusing skill and intricate skill but at least Alexander could tell it could be very powerful.

     His second skill, the Unique Skill [Long Lived] on the other hand was much more simple. It would only grant him one ability. A type of immortality. How? Well, the effects of the skill would actually completely halt the deterioration of his DNA, completely ending all aging along with canceling out all risks for diseases like cancer. This would make him functionally immortal assuming he didn't die from disease or injury. Not bad considering the effects of the other two skills as [Adaptation] would allow him to adapt to things like disease and the effects of [Survivor] would get rid of his weakness to injury. How, well...

     Unique Skill [Survivor] out of the other three was the most powerful yet the one skill he wanted to avoid using the most. This was because it was a skill that gave his body the ability to survive any normally fatal trauma outside of cell destroying effects like decay and disintegration. It granted him a passive healing factor, magically increased his durability and pain tolerance and would even allow him to return from actual death by keeping his soul inside of his body even after his brain is destroyed giving his body the chance to regenerate his head before waking up. It was by all means the perfect skill to combine to cover for the weaknesses [Adaptation] and [Long Lived] that being [Long Lived] would only change his life span while [Adaptation] would take time to adapt his body to survive dangerous situations.

     However, he knew that if he ever needed to use the skill he would also be in intense pain for two reasons. One, his body's healing process would not block out the pain from his muscles, bones, nerves and skin rapidly regrowing so the healing would be incredibly painful. And two, it didn't actually give him the chance to escape or a solution to whatever would make it activate so if he was attacked by an animal for example, surviving its mauling would possibly only make it worse because if it was a predatory creature he would have to endure the pain of being eaten alive. It would not exactly be the best situation either. But he knew it was still good to have just in case so he knew he shouldn't complain.

     However, even having that knowledge he knew he had to test it which was why he chose to cut himself with a rock. It was a better option than out on the field, he knew that at least. So, as he watched the last of the blood from his hand drip down into the soft dirt below leaving behind a perfectly healed up hand thanks to a lesser form of his [Survivor]'s healing power activating he stood up certain about something. Whoever that being was, they had given him those powers. For what reason? He didn't know. But he was certain as the three skills he had been gifted were obviously designed to give him the best chance to survive his trek through the forest he would be forced to embark in. One that judging off of the amount of trees he saw would not end very soon.

     Sighing, he finally stood up and looked around. There were trees and other such greenery everywhere with very little diversity outside of that. No landmarks to follow, no rivers, nothing. Just the forest and himself. As he did he sighed again and finally muttered to himself, "Well, no sense in staying here. Might as well start walking." It was time. Time for him to escape the forest. If he walked in a single direction he would eventually escape after all. Although he wasn't looking forward to it. Although he knew he had no other choice so with that thought he began moving.

  Timeskip 3 Days

     Three days. Three days of nonstop walking and still nothing. Well, nothing as far as a way out of the forest at least. As for discoveries involving the forest though. He had actually learned a bit too much for his taste. Particularly involving the fauna of the forest. Particularly because it was really strange.

     He had encountered normal animals from birds to insects to deer. That was all well and good, but as he looked around he began to see strange things. Several meter long centipedes that luckily didn't seem interested in him, beetles the size of his entire body, boars with several pairs of huge tusks and spikes running down the side of their backs, birds with full on dinosaur-like claws, etc. Outside of the normal animals he found he also found other creatures that he could only really describe as monsters. Both fascinating and terrifying, each and every encounter would immediately make Alexander hide although he would still make sure to watch the creatures before they would crawl or fly away. Each was a truly spectacular sight, although he knew they were anything but safe to be around.

      Finding them as he walked around though he could only comment on how strange it was to see such creatures. After his arrival he had already developed a theory that he had likely been sent to a completely different planet, possibly a different universe in fact. But for some reason even with being a very real possibility the creatures for some reason still resembled normal animals. Why? It didn't make sense. Realistically in a world where magic existed animals would have evolved very differently than on normal Earth but for some reason they were only larger versions of normal animals. It was like he had been sent to Skull Island rather than a magical reality like he guessed based off his new supernatural abilities. It was a fascinating situation.

     He knew he would have to remember his experiences because it at least meant one thing. If normal animals existed, humans could also possibly exist in the new world he had been sent to. And if they did, he knew explaining his story would be hard for he would sound like a crazy person. So he needed as much detail in his story as possible and for that reason starting on day three he would actively try to keep a mental note on everything that happened.

  Timeskip 2 Days

     Alexander sat next to a tree with a pained expression on his face as he looked at his leg. It was broken. Earlier in his wandering he had been walking around just like the 5 days before keeping an eye out for a way out of the forest until out of nowhere, he walked straight off a cliff. A cliff he had failed to see thanks to a small bush that had grown to cover the steep fall. He had survived it thanks to [Survivor] and healed his smaller injuries relatively quickly but his broken leg took longer. Worst of all the bone was pointing out and slowly turning as it healed, sending waves of pain in a steady rate.

     His hypothesis was right. His body would heal but he would also feel each individual muscle and bone reattach and heal with no anesthetic to turn it down. What a catch? He was borderline immortal outside of things vaporization but would have to endure extreme pain every time he faced something that would have normally killed him. His body was basically trading death for torture. What a concept.

     Alexander knew it was worth it though, so he just dealt with the pain as he watched his bone slowly regrow. As he did though, Alexander tha ought about something. If [Adaptation] could respond to what he wants, wouldn't that mean his healing would very slowly get faster? A splatter of blood gets shot out as his bone snaps into place. "Ack!" Hopefully that was true. Maybe a bit of pain resistance as well. That would be a good adaptation as well.

  Timeskip 2 Days

     "Well," Alexander muttered under his breath. "Looks like a week has passed." In his journey Alexander had made sure to keep track of just how long he had been traveling by keeping track of how many times the sun went down and by that point a week had finally passed. As he thought about this he just slowed down.

     Thanks to what he assumed to be an adaptation he wasn't very hungry and didn't feel tired at all. He was a bit thirsty though but not too much. He predicted he could probably go another 3 to 4 months with no food or water based on the rate at which he was getting thirstier but he knew it definitely would be an awful 3 to 4 months if it did come down to it. He looked around. Nothing. He had been traveling for 7 days straight and still had yet to find any signs of an exit to the forest. It seemed endless but he knew there had to be a way out. He would just have to search more.

     But, that would have to wait until the next day to pick up with that because as he crawled over a large log, suddenly, something big crawled out. A 3 foot long purple centipede with huge pointy legs and massive mandibles.

     "Holy!" Alexander immediately jumped back. Alexander didn't immediately panic as the centipede wouldn't be the first monster he would see in the new world but as he slowly crawled back he suddenly felt something mushy under his feet. Slowly he looked down and saw it. He had stepped on some eggs. At that point it was too late. The centipede charged.

     As it slithered over Alexander tried his best to slam his foot down on it to little success as it survived and crawled up that same leg. Shivers ran through him as it crawled up, making him slam his back into a nearby tree on instinct in an attempt to kill the centipede. It only made it angrier. It shrieked as suddenly Alexander felt a sharp pain around his neck. It was the centipede's mandibles. It had jabbed them into his body and begun injecting venom. It was too late.

     As the waves of pain shot through him he suddenly began feeling woozy. Venom directly to the neck. From there the venom would take effect almost instantly. Before Alexander even realized, he was on the ground, out cold from the attack. But that wouldn't be where his life would end. No, it was time for his skills to get to work and they wouldn't fail him. They didn't have much time though, the amount of venom was too much. The skills with their normal output wouldn't be able to save Alexander. That only meant one thing. It was time for [Adaptation] to go into overdrive and instead of doing it all itself, it would instead go straight to the source. It would send a request directly to the voice in the sky.

{Notice- Extra Skill [Adaptation] has sent an alert. Entity Alexander Sarmos has been poisoned. Request to grant Resistance [Poison Resistance] has been received. Processing request...

Confirmed- Alexander Sarmos' request to obtain Resistance [Poison Resistance] has been accepted.

Notice- Extra Skill [Adaptation] has sent an alert. Resistance [Poison Resistance] has proven unsuccessful. Request to upgrade Resistance [Poison Resistance] has been received. Processing request...

Error- Alexander Sarmos' request to upgrade Resistance [Poison Resistance] has been denied.

Notice- New request received...Denied.

Notice- New request received...Denied.

Notice- Unique Skill [Survivor] has been activated. Extra Skill [Adaptation] and Unique Skill [Survivor] have requested to upgrade Resistance [Poison Resistance]. Processing...

Confirmed- Alexander Sarmos' request to upgrade Resistance [Poison Resistance] has been accepted. Resistance [Poison Resistance EX] has been granted.}

  Timeskip 7 Days

     2 weeks had passed for Alexander and he had found nothing new for all those 2 weeks. During his journey he had noticed that outside of slowly getting stronger somehow, likely through a form of adaptation, he had yet to find anything new to show. Just aimless wandering through the forest. Or at least, not until he suddenly saw something in the distance. Light. And not just the type of light peeking through the roof of the forest. No, full on daylight. Had he finally found an exit. He had to know so curiously, he began walking over to it. It was strange to see something so bright after traveling through a forest for 2 weeks.

      After his arrival he had not seen much clear daylight for a while, only really seeing it when walking through sparse patches of uncovered land and not much else. And sure, while what he was seeing could very likely have been just a larger patch, his instincts told him otherwise. Whatever he was seeing was not just a small area with no trees. No, it was what he was looking for. A way out. But as he walked towards it, he suddenly felt it. A sense of primal unease deep in his gut. It was the feeling that he was in danger.

     What? Was it the sunlight? No. It was something else. Something else he had developed over his short time in the forest was more clear senses and a sort of weak spider sense-like power. Likely developed due to a subconscious want to avoid what had happened to him with the centipede only a week beforehand. Although he rarely got to use it thanks to how empty the forest seemed to be for some reason. But as he got closer to the sunlight he only felt as the sense got stronger and stronger until he finally heard something. A low growl coming from somewhere in front of him.

     It was low and guttural, so low that even he with his slightly better hearing could barely hear it but it was still loud enough to hear. Where was it coming from? Alexander looked around. There was no way something that loud was small. He looked around. Should he run? No, if it's a stalking animal that'll just trigger a predator response. So what?

     That question would suddenly be answered when he finally saw it. It was a large, blue reptile with a lizard-like head and armor plates running down its back. Out each side of its head sprouted two antennae-like whiskers placed shortly in front of actual spikes starting at its neck and moving along its sides. Its claws were vicious, longer than his entire arm in fact. He knew exactly what kind of situation he was in as soon as he saw it. He knew exactly how to react as well. He knew it all instantly. He had to escape and fast because he had finally run into it. His first high intensity fight or flight situation. And disturbingly, he had a feeling that this would definitely not be the last.

Status

Name: Alexander Sarmos

Race: Human

Titles: None

Magic: None

EP: 21

Abilities: Unique Skills [Long Lived and Survivor]

                  Extra Skill [Adaptation]

Resistances: Poison Resistance EX